Despite growing skepticism about the value of international law and its compatibility with state sovereignty, states should improve and strengthen international law because it makes a critical contribution to an international order characterized by peace and justice. In recent years, international agreements and institutions have become particularly contentious. China is refusing to abide by the decision of an international arbitration decision implementing UNCLOS rules in the South China Sea, and Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from international agreements including the Paris Agreement on Climate Change of 2015. Such retreats expose widespread ambivalence towards cooperation through international law, and reverse the gains made by long-standing processes of legalization. In Law Beyond the State, Carmen Pavel responds to the ambivalent attitude states have with respect to international law by offering moral and legal reasons for them to improve, strengthen, and further institutionalize its capacity. She argues that the same reasons which support the development of law at the domestic level, namely the cultivation of peace, the protection of individual rights, the facilitation of complex forms of cooperation, and the resolution of collective action problems, also support the development of law at the international level. The argument thus engages in institutional moral reasoning. Pavel shows why it should matter to individuals that their states are part of a rule-governed international order. When states are bound by common rules of behavior, their citizens reap the benefits. International law encourages states to protect individual rights and provides a forum where they can communicate, negotiate, and compromise on their differences in order to protect themselves from outside interference and pursue their domestic policies more effectively, including those directed at enhancing their citizen's welfare. Thus, Pavel shows that international law makes a critical, irreplaceable, and defining contribution to an international order characterized by peace and justice. At a time when challenges of cooperation beyond state boundaries include climate change, health epidemics, and large-scale human rights violations, Law Beyond the State issues a powerful reminder of the tools we have to address them.

About the Author
Carmen E. Pavel is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Economy at King's College London. She is the author of Divided Sovereignty: International Institutions and the Limits of State Sovereignty and, with David Schmidtz, is the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Freedom.

Reviews
Law Beyond the State provides an extensive and detailed overview of the competing theories around the goals and necessity of international law. * CAROLINE NEWMAN, NYU School of Law *
Carmen Pavel's book weaves together political philosophy, law, and international relations theory into an original and compelling case for a more vital vision of international law. She also offers a blueprint for a more legitimate and effective international legal order, one that transcends ideal theory. In so doing, her book represents a model of interdisciplinary scholarship, accessible to multiple audiences. * Steven R. Ratner, Bruno Simma Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan, and Director of the Donia Human Rights Center *
The longstanding expansion of international law's reach into the innermost recesses of state authority has generated a destabilizing yet predictable backlash. In Law beyond the State, Carmen Pavel meets this momentous challenge with a timely and provocative account of why international law is not only desirable but morally requisite. Pushing aside usual suspects such as Hobbes, Grotius, Kant, and Vattel, Pavel argues that David Hume's sophisticated theory of dynamic coordination gives us the key to designing a legitimate system of international law, on precisely the same philosophical grounds as domestic law. * Turkuler Isiksel, Associate Professor of Political Science, Columbia University *


Awards
Winner of Winner, 2023 Best Book Award, ILAW Section, International Studies Association.



Book Information
ISBN 9780197543894
Author Carmen E. Pavel
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 499g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 239mm * 23mm